How to Convert a Conductor's Score Into a Piano Piece
Possess some prior musical knowledge., Acquire a copy of the conductor's score for the piece you wish to "piano-iffy"., Listen to a recording of the piece being performed to get a feel of which instruments have the melody, which have important lower...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Possess some prior musical knowledge.
To do this, you'll have to have a pretty good working knowledge of melodies, how band arrangements work, and transposing. -
Step 2: Acquire a copy of the conductor's score for the piece you wish to "piano-iffy".
If this isn't possible, you can try finding/making copies of individual parts to the song.
At the very least, you'll probably want the first (and possibly second or third, if applicable) parts for the following instruments:
Trumpet Clarinet Alto sax (possibly Tenor and/or Bari as well) Flute and/or Oboe (a piccolo part may also be helpful) Tuba Baritone/Euphonium and/or Trombone , Make notes, if need be. , Since the piano is a C instrument, having everything transposed before you start will eliminate a lot of confusion.
You can also use this as an opportunity to put everything into some sort of music notation software (such as Finale Notepad), especially if you're working from individual parts instead of a score, so that it'll be lined up and easy to distinguish what's happening in every given measure. , Using your new music format, look through it and see which instruments have the melody at any given time, and if there are more than one and they're all playing different notes (for instance, trumpets have a G, alto saxophones have an Eb, and clarinets have a C), write all the notes on top of each other. , You'll especially want to watch the tuba and other low brass parts for this.
Some of those instrument may have long notes, and some (tuba, especially) will probably have a rhythm-keeping set of quarter or eighth notes.
Write in as much as your fingers and playing ability can handle. , You'll probably notice at least one of two things: (1) You can't play it, and/or (2) there are some places that sound horrible.
In the case of the first problem, try taking some of the chords and counter-melodies out.
As for the second problem, it's often caused by balance issues.
For instance, if you're playing a G (the trumpets' note), an Eb (the alto saxes' note) and a C (the clarinets' note), and it sounds awful, that might be because you're playing them all the same volume
- there's only one of each key, and you can't really make adjustments to make it easier to hear the G, harder to hear the Eb, etc.
Experiment to figure out which note is making the chord sound so bad, and try to find a way to take a note or tow out to improve the sound. , Keep fixing problem spots until you have a playable, nice sounding piano rendition of your concert band piece. -
Step 3: Listen to a recording of the piece being performed to get a feel of which instruments have the melody
-
Step 4: which have important lower parts
-
Step 5: which have solos
-
Step 6: Transpose everything to concert pitch
-
Step 7: which is the key of C (see related LifeGuide Hubs for help).
-
Step 8: Figure out the melody parts.
-
Step 9: Write the bass part.
-
Step 10: Play through what you've written.
-
Step 11: After making those tweaks
-
Step 12: play through it again.
Detailed Guide
To do this, you'll have to have a pretty good working knowledge of melodies, how band arrangements work, and transposing.
If this isn't possible, you can try finding/making copies of individual parts to the song.
At the very least, you'll probably want the first (and possibly second or third, if applicable) parts for the following instruments:
Trumpet Clarinet Alto sax (possibly Tenor and/or Bari as well) Flute and/or Oboe (a piccolo part may also be helpful) Tuba Baritone/Euphonium and/or Trombone , Make notes, if need be. , Since the piano is a C instrument, having everything transposed before you start will eliminate a lot of confusion.
You can also use this as an opportunity to put everything into some sort of music notation software (such as Finale Notepad), especially if you're working from individual parts instead of a score, so that it'll be lined up and easy to distinguish what's happening in every given measure. , Using your new music format, look through it and see which instruments have the melody at any given time, and if there are more than one and they're all playing different notes (for instance, trumpets have a G, alto saxophones have an Eb, and clarinets have a C), write all the notes on top of each other. , You'll especially want to watch the tuba and other low brass parts for this.
Some of those instrument may have long notes, and some (tuba, especially) will probably have a rhythm-keeping set of quarter or eighth notes.
Write in as much as your fingers and playing ability can handle. , You'll probably notice at least one of two things: (1) You can't play it, and/or (2) there are some places that sound horrible.
In the case of the first problem, try taking some of the chords and counter-melodies out.
As for the second problem, it's often caused by balance issues.
For instance, if you're playing a G (the trumpets' note), an Eb (the alto saxes' note) and a C (the clarinets' note), and it sounds awful, that might be because you're playing them all the same volume
- there's only one of each key, and you can't really make adjustments to make it easier to hear the G, harder to hear the Eb, etc.
Experiment to figure out which note is making the chord sound so bad, and try to find a way to take a note or tow out to improve the sound. , Keep fixing problem spots until you have a playable, nice sounding piano rendition of your concert band piece.
About the Author
Aaron West
Brings years of experience writing about DIY projects and related subjects.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: